OBJECTIVES: Congenital hemiplegia is the most common form of cerebral palsy (CP). Children with unilateral CP show signs of upper limb asymmetry by 8 months corrected age (ca) but are frequently not referred to therapy until after 12 months ca. This study compares the efficacy of infant-friendly modified constraint-induced movement therapy (Baby mCIMT) to infant friendly bimanual therapy (Baby BIM) on upper limb, cognitive and neuroplasticity outcomes in a multisite randomised comparison trial...

In a number of animal species, the growth-associated protein (GAP), GAP-43 (aka: F1, neuromodulin, B-50, G50, pp46), has been implicated in the regulation of presynaptic vesicular function and axonal growth and plasticity via its own biochemical properties and interactions with a number of other presynaptic proteins. Changes in the expression of GAP-43 mRNA or distribution of the protein coincide with axonal outgrowth as a consequence of neuronal damage and presynaptic rearrangement that would occur following instances of elevated patterned neural activity including memory formation and development...

The orofacial sensorimotor system is a unique system significantly distinguished from the spinal sensorimotor system. The jaw muscles are involved in mastication, swallowing and articulatory speech movements and their integration with respiration. These sensorimotor functions are vital for sustaining life and necessitate complex neuromuscular processing to provide for exquisite sensorimotor control of numerous orofacial muscles. The function of the jaw muscles in relation to sensorimotor control of these movements may be subject to aging-related declines...

Neuroplasticity in the amygdala, a brain center for emotions, leads to increased neuronal activity and output that can generate emotional-affective behaviors and modulate nocifensive responses. Mechanisms of increased activity in the amygdala output region (central nucleus, CeA) include increased reactive oxygen species, and so we explored beneficial effects of monomethyl fumarate (MMF), which can have neuroprotective effects through the nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) antioxidant response pathway...

Including supplementary information from the brain or other body parts in the control of brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) has been recently proposed and investigated. Such enriched interfaces are referred to as hybrid BMIs (hBMIs) and have been proven to be more robust and accurate than regular BMIs for assistive and rehabilitative applications. Electromyographic (EMG) activity is one of the most widely utilized biosignals in hBMIs, as it provides a quite direct measurement of the motion intention of the user...

Musicians are highly trained to discriminate fine pitch changes but the neural bases of this ability are poorly understood. It is unclear whether such training-dependent differences in pitch processing arise already in the subcortical auditory system or are linked to more central stages. To address this question, we combined psychoacoustic testing with functional MRI to measure cortical and subcortical responses in musicians and non-musicians during a pitch-discrimination task. First, we estimated behavioral pitch-discrimination thresholds for complex tones with harmonic components that were either resolved or unresolved in the auditory system...

BACKGROUND: Adverse effects of spaceflight on sensorimotor function have been linked to altered somatosensory and vestibular inputs in the microgravity environment. Whether these spaceflight sequelae have a central nervous system component is unknown. However, experimental studies have shown spaceflight-induced brain structural changes in rodents' sensorimotor brain regions. Understanding the neural correlates of spaceflight-related motor performance changes is important to ultimately develop tailored countermeasures that ensure mission success and astronauts' health...

Tinnitus describes the subjective perception of a sound despite the absence of external stimulation. Being a sensory symptom the majority of studies focusses on the auditory pathway. In the recent years, a series of studies suggested a crucial involvement of the limbic system in the manifestation and development of chronic tinnitus. Regarding cognitive symptoms, several reviews addressed the presence of cognitive impairments in tinnitus as well and concluded that attention and memory processes are affected...

Binge-drinking is common in underage alcohol users, yet we know little regarding the biopsychological impact of binge-drinking during early periods of development. Prior work indicated that adolescent male C57BL6/J mice with a 2-week history of binge-drinking (PND28-41) are resilient to the anxiogenic effects of early alcohol withdrawal. Herein, we employed a comparable Drinking-in-the-Dark model to determine how a prior history of binge-drinking during adolescence (EtOH(adolescents)) influences emotionality (assayed with the light-dark box, marble burying test, and the forced swim test) and the propensity to consume alcohol in later life, compared to animals without prior drinking experience...

Hugues Duffau is a Professor and Chairman of the Neurosurgery Department in the Montpellier University Medical Center and Head of the INSERM 1051 Team "plasticity of the central nervous system, human stem cells and glial tumors" at the Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier (France). He is an expert in the awake cognitive neurosurgery of slow-growing brain tumors, such as low-grade gliomas, a routine which he has developed since 20 years. His fundamental approach is centered on the concepts of the brain connectomics and neuroplasticity, breaking with the traditional localizationist view of cerebral processing...

Hypoxemia is a common complication of the diseases associated with the central nervous system, and neurons are highly sensitive to the availability of oxygen. Neuroplasticity is an important property of the neural system controlling breathing, memory, and cognitive ability. However, the underlying mechanism has not yet been clearly elucidated. In recent years, several pieces of evidence have highlighted the effect of hypoxic injury on neuronal plasticity in the pathogenesis and treatment of mood disorder. Therefore, the present study reviewed the relevant articles regarding hypoxic injury and neuronal plasticity and discussed the pathological changes and physiological functions of neurons in hypoxemia in order to provide a translational perspective to the relevance of hypoxic injury and mood disorder...

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in pain neuroscience education (PNE) in physical therapy. There is growing evidence for the efficacy of PNE to decrease pain, disability, fear-avoidance, pain catastrophization, limited movement, and health care utilization in people struggling with pain. PNE teaches people in pain more about the biology and physiology of their pain experience including processes such as central sensitization, peripheral sensitization, allodynia, inhibition, facilitation, neuroplasticity and more...

Although different aspects of neuroplasticity can be quantified with behavioral probes, brain stimulation, and brain imaging assessments, no study to date has combined all these approaches into one comprehensive assessment of brain plasticity. Here, 24 healthy right-handed participants practiced a sequence of finger-thumb opposition movements for 10 min each day with their left hand. After 4 weeks, performance for the practiced sequence improved significantly (P < 0.05 FWE) relative to a matched control sequence, with both the left (mean increase: 53...

Neuroinflammation is a complex inflammatory process in the central nervous system, which is sought to play an important defensive role against various pathogens, toxins or factors that induce neurodegeneration. The onset of neurodegenerative diseases and various microbial infections are counted as stimuli that can challenge the host immune system and trigger the development of neuroinflammation. The homeostatic nature of neuroinflammation is essential to maintain the neuroplasticity. Neuroinflammation is regulated by the activity of neuronal, glial, and endothelial cells within the neurovascular unit, which serves as a "platform" for the coordinated action of pro- and anti-inflammatory mechanisms...

BACKGROUND: Intrathecal/intracisternal BDNF in rodents produces long-lasting hyperalgesia/allodynia, which implies BDNF plays a role in the establishment and maintenance of central sensitization. Both self-regeneration of endogenous BDNF and neuroplastic modifications of spinal NMDA receptors downstream TrkB signalling could be involved in such enduring hyperalgesia. We investigated to what extent BDNF by itself could participate in the generation and maintenance of mechanical hyperalgesia using pharmacological tools...

Space travel poses an enormous challenge on the human body; microgravity, ionizing radiation, absence of circadian rhythm, confinement and isolation are just some of the features associated with it. Obviously, all of the latter can have an impact on human physiology and even induce detrimental changes. Some organ systems have been studied thoroughly under space conditions, however, not much is known on the functional and morphological effects of spaceflight on the human central nervous system. Previous studies have already shown that central nervous system changes occur during and after spaceflight in the form of neurovestibular problems, alterations in cognitive function and sensory perception, cephalic fluid shifts and psychological disturbances...

AIM: To develop and assess the validity of the clinical algorithm VERTIGO for the differential diagnosis of central and peripheral vertigo and optimization of treatment of patients with vertigo. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty-five patients with an acute attack of vertigo, aged from 18 to 75 years (53±6.7 years), were studied. All patients underwent standard neurological examination. In case of signs of central vertigo, patients underwent neuroimaging. Diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of the VERTIGO algorithm as well as its positive and negative prognostic values were calculated...

The AKT family of serine-threonine kinases functions downstream of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) to transmit signals by direct phosphorylation of a number of targets, including the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β), and β-catenin. AKT binds to phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-triphosphate (PIP3) generated by PI3K activation, which results in its membrane localization and subsequent activation through phosphorylation by phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1 (PDK1)...

Brain connectivity after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) has not been investigated longitudinally with respect to both functional and structural networks together within the same patients, crucial to capture the multifaceted neuropathology of the injury and to comprehensively monitor the course of recovery and compensatory reorganizations at macro-level. We performed a prospective study with 49 mTBI patients at an average of 5 days and 1 year post-injury and 49 healthy controls. Neuropsychological assessments as well as resting-state functional and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging were obtained...

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients have central nervous system (CNS) lesions that may impede cognitive and sensorimotor function. Few rehabilitative therapies are available. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this paper is to study effects of noninvasive tongue stimulation using the Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator (PoNS™) combined with intensive cognitive and physical rehabilitation on working memory, gait, balance and concomitant changes in the brain...